It was the moment everyone was waiting for.
Concerned citizens and impacted residents had been coming before the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (Water Board or Board) for more than five years to plead their case for Freshwater Creek, Elk River, Stitz Creek, Bear Creek, and Jordan Creek. Water quality conditions in these five Humboldt County watersheds had become exceedingly degraded, even by North Coast standards, and flooding, sedimentation and other problems were only getting worse. The only activity upstream: logging operations by Pacific Lumber Company.
Nearly two years ago, the Water Board's staff urged several actions to prevent further damage to domestic water sources and fish habitat in these watersheds, including drastically limiting the rate of logging. However, through careful orchestration and endless delays, the Water Board managed to never hold a hearing on the matter.
On April 18, that finally changed. The Board decided to hold a hearing on the five watersheds, albeit only on what can be described as a portion of one of the several actions recommended by its staff. As noticed, the hearing was to determine whether or not "reports of waste discharge" would be required of Pacific Lumber (PL).
This proposed action would have been a tiny step forward for the Board. Even so, it was difficult to be too hopeful for a positive outcome since the Board had failed to take any action for more than five years. No matter how little any one expected from the Board, however, no one was prepared for just how inept they proved to be.
After a 24-hour long hearing that lasted two days and ended at midnight, the Water Board never even brought the matter up for a vote.
PL controls the vast majority of the land in all five watersheds at issue. As with other areas within its holdings, logging doubled and tripled when Maxxam completed its hostile takeover of the company in the mid-1980s. By 1997, PL had clearcut and burned huge portions of all five of the watersheds, logging up to 70% of the total area within the span of ten years.
In August 2000, the staff of the Water Board documented how, from 1987 to 1997, PL drastically increased the rate of logging as compared to the amount logged between 1974 and 1987. Logging increased in Freshwater Creek by 466%, in Jordan Creek by 543% and in the North Fork of the Elk River by 760%.
They also documented how, with hillsides stripped bare, dramatic damage to water quality followed: between 1994 and 1997, sediment delivery increased by 1,161% in Stitz Creek and 1,365% in Bear Creek. The Water Board staff believes logging operations are responsible for 95% of this sediment.
Not surprisingly, residents in Freshwater Creek and Elk River began experiencing serious problems. Rain events common to the North Coast were causing flooding comparable to the great floods of 1955 and 1964. Domestic water sources in Elk River were completely destroyed, and in 1997, PL was forced to start trucking in water to the residents.
Bear, Jordan and Stitz Creeks, all of which flow into the Eel River near Scotia, suffered just as bad. Numerous huge landslides ripped through these watersheds, which did not have human residents living downstream, but provided critical habitat for steelhead, chinook and coho salmon among other creatures. This habitat was "essentially erased" in the words of the Department of Fish and Game.
At first the California Department of Forestry (CDF) said they would not approve additional logging in the five watersheds until PL took actions requested from the Water Board, Department of Fish and Game and other agencies. When PL refused to fulfill these actions, however, it didn't take long for CDF to begin wielding their rubber stamp once again. Since 1999, they have approved thousands of acres in four of the five watersheds. PL is now exceeding the logging rates that led to the severe problems in the 1990s.
In less than three years, CDF has approved almost 2,000 acres for logging in Freshwater Creek. In Jordan Creek, they've approved 800 acres, comprising 25% of the total watershed area. In Bear Creek: more than 900 acres, or about 20% of the total watershed area.
CDF has not yet approved additional logging in Elk River, but that is soon to change. The agency has indicated they are preparing to "open the flood gate" in the watershed and begin approving the 16 logging plans that are now pending for the area. These plans total over 3,500 acres, and approximately 14 miles of new roads are also planned for construction.
Logging industries are currently exempted from requirements of the state clean water act under a blanket waiver the Water Board granted in the 1980s. Such a waiver can only be given, however, when it is not against the public interest. With salmon habitat buried and people flooded out of their homes on a regular basis, it is abundantly clear that this waiver is squarely against the public interest.
Citizen groups and residents began calling on the Water Board to terminate this waiver of "waste discharge requirements" more than three years ago. When the staff of the Board issued the report mentioned above, they recommended the Board take several actions, including issuing waste discharge requirements to PL.
Formal evidentiary hearings were scheduled on the Staff Report, but the chairperson of the Board at that time, who happens to be a founding partner in a law firm that represents PL, delayed the hearing several times. Then last year, on his law firm's letterhead, he arbitrarily vacated the hearings altogether.
CDF has been the sole agency making determinations on logging operations, a job at which they have failed miserably. Charged with protecting the water resources of the North Coast, the Water Board has the ability, and in fact, the duty to step in and do something about this situation.
Waste discharge requirements are the primary tool provided to the Board to protect and restore water quality. The Water Board could use this tool to require measures above and beyond those required by CDF, effectively eliminating the carte blanche authority CDF now enjoys.
While the politically appointed Board has been hesitant to take needed actions, its staff continues to make strong recommendations during the review of specific logging operations. CDF routinely ignores these recommendations, however, no matter how large or small one may be. By ending the waiver, waste discharge requirements could be utilized by the Water Board to override CDF and ensure that measures to protect water quality are implemented.
CDF has proven they are either incapable or unwilling to protect salmon habitat, water supplies and other public resources that rely on clean water. It is time for the Water Board to finally step up to the plate and fulfill its mandate to protect and restore our watersheds. This step can only be taken if they terminate this illogical, harmful and illegal waiver of the state clean water act.
For more information on this issue or to find out how you can become involved, please contact the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC) at (707) 923-2931 or www.wildcalifornia.org.
Copyright Mendocino Environmental Center 2002
Permission granted to excerpt or use this article if source is cited